This
article is addressed to those in America who say their system of healthcare is
superior to that of other countries, including Canada's. Well, allow me to say
something that will make those Americans think twice before repeating that
nonsense ever again: Charles Krauthammer is dead because he lived in America. I
am alive because I live in Canada.
We
both had a somewhat similar experience with cancer. He was in a better position
to survive after the operation but did not because his cancer returned shortly
after the operation. It's been more than three years since my operation, and as
of now, all the tests — undergone every three
months at first, and now once a year — have
indicated that I am completely free of cancer.
Krauthammer
had several advantages over me. He was about eight years younger. Except for
being confined to a wheelchair due to an accident, he was otherwise in
excellent health, and his cancer was diagnosed early on. By contrast, I have
been living with diabetes for three decades, and had a quadruple heart bypass.
These conditions made it difficult for me to realize early on that I was
infected with cancer. That's because the symptoms of fatigue, dizziness,
shortness of breath and loss of appetite that I was experiencing, looked the
same as those produced by diabetes or by arterial blockage.
Still,
to determine what exactly was wrong with me, I spent more than a year having
blood works and scans. I also had an angioplasty and a bronchoscopy to
determine why my symptoms were intensifying. But all the tests came out
negative. Even though no one suspected that I had cancer (given that no one in
my family ever had it) I did have a colonoscopy, years earlier, and it came out
negative, which is why no one thought I should have another one. As well, a
scan of the chest inadvertently revealed the existence of a growth in the
pancreas, but after several more scans and an MRI —
done over two years — the growth proved to be
benign.
Finally,
the cancer affecting me revealed itself in a most unexpected way. It did so in
a massive blood discharge that looked nothing like a regular diarrhea. In fact,
the abdominal cancer had been developing in my colon for months; maybe even
years while several doctors, nurses and lab technicians of all kind, were
trying to locate it. By the time we knew what it was and where it was, we
realized it had reached an advanced stage.
I
had an operation, and given my age and my other health issues, I should have
had a hard time recovering, but that was not the case. It was not, because the
health system that treated it, is by far superior to what Krauthammer got. It
is a single-payer system that costs less than half the American, delivers life
where America delivers dysfunction, and covers everyone where America favors
the well to do while ignoring the needy.
What
ought to surprise people is the fact that America is this close to Canada and
yet, failed to learn from a healthcare system that is as close to perfection as
it can get. Why this failure to learn? The reason is that too many people make
too much money from a corrupt system that is making them rich. And so, they
spend a great deal of money and energy fabricating lies about the Canadian
system, and those in Europe.
The
truth is that everyone in Canada is given a health card, which means that
everyone is covered. When I used to work for others or worked for myself, a
premium was deducted from my paycheck to pay for the healthcare system. When I
was out of work, I remained covered even though I was not contributing to the
system.
When
I got sick, I went to any general practitioner I chose. When I needed to see a
specialist, my doctor would refer me to one. If I needed to be hospitalized, my
specialist and I would choose a suitable hospital. If I needed a medical
procedure, nothing that is not cosmetic in the category of a face lift or a
nose job is denied. Now that I am a senior, I don't pay for my medication.
There too, nothing that is in generic form is denied me. If I need a drug that
has not yet gone generic, I get the original.
We,
Canadians, from the richest to the poorest, get this kind of coverage. We get
it with no condition attached, no hassle to put up
with, no humiliation to intimidate us, no worry to keep us up at night, and no
insurance adjuster to decide whether or not we are eligible … or if eligible to
what extent.